“Darn graffiti artists.”
Batman: The Adventures Continue #1
DC Comics (August, 2020, via comiXology)
“Hardware”
WRITERS: Alan Burnett and Paul Dini
ARTIST: Ty Templeton
COLORIST: Monica Kubina
SELECTED COVER ART: I’m not sure. I think comiXology went with the Dan Mora cover but the Grand Comics Database shows all the print version’s variant covers. Variant covers are annoying.
LETTERER: Josh Reed
EDITOR: Edward Marino
A robot steals something Superman asked Wayne Technologies to look into. Batman isn’t able to stop the robot but he does manage to learn it’s connected to the visiting Lex Luthor. In the vault is the remains of Brainiac and with Superman disappeared Batman must use his own battlesuit to counter Lex’s. Eventually Alfred and Batman notice an extra seat in the robot but it’s not for a pilot, it’s for the power source…namely Superman. Batman jolts Superman awake and together they foil Lex’s plans. Meanwhile someone is watching in the shadows and he has plans for Batman.
What they got right: As an attempted continuation of the DC Animated Universe it does well enough. Given how often the “Adventures” line would run counter to the DCAU story by playing too close to the main DC Universe, not having a DCAU anymore allows them some extra freedom. The story itself is quite good. There’s a callback to a minor character from Mask Of The Phantasm. The story itself is pretty good.
What they got wrong: With no plans to do a similar series for Superman, making your first issue about a return battle between Batman and Lex seems an odd choice. If Superman and Brainiac had a battle on the far side of the moon, how did Lex capture him and stick him into the robot as a solar battery, and does even Superman have that much stored solar power?
What I think overall: A decent enough story though not one I would have started a new series on unless this is going to be some crossover series.
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